The scam employed more than 1,000 people in three call centers; many were college graduates
Hyderabad:
Hyderabad police have frozen 75 bank accounts at 423 million rupees in connection with a multi-million rupee money loan scam, which charged victims up to 35 percent interest, conducted through 30 phone apps. mobiles that were not approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Telangana police were alerted once that three people died by suicide after they were reportedly harassed and humiliated by moneylenders. The authorities carried out several raids in Hyderabad and Gurgaon in Haryana and arrested 16 people.
Cyberabad Police are conducting independent investigations and have arrested seven, including an engineer with a US degree. Sarath Chandra, 32, ran money lending operations through two companies – Onion Credit Pvt Ltd and Cred Fox Technologies, which started in 2018-19. He also developed and sold business loan applications in Bengaluru.
The business operated through companies registered in Bengaluru in January and February this year, as well as call centers in Gurgaon and Hyderabad.
Authorities say the call centers employed hundreds of trained youths to entice customers, entice them to borrow successive sums from multiple apps, and were trained to “abuse, defame and blackmail” victims in order to recover borrowed money and interest.
Call centers connected to the scam installed in Gurgaon, Bengaluru and Hyderabad
More than 1,000 people were employed at three call centers alone, many of whom were university graduates and were paid between Rs 10,000-15,000 per month.
The scale of the fraud, which was made more tragic by running at a time when tens of thousands were left without work and in dire financial straits due to the pandemic, was highlighted after ties to China: a woman with a passport Chinese was arrested in Gurgaon. and Indonesia. Links have also emerged with nine NBFC (non-bank finance company) in Delhi, Ghaziabad, Nagpur, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Officials say a “multi-city” investigation is needed to understand the true scope of the scam. The money itself was routed through shell companies, multiple bank accounts, payment gateways, and digital wallets to avoid detection.
On Wednesday night, the RBI warned individuals and small businesses not to fall victim to unauthorized digital lending platforms and mobile apps that promise hassle-free loans.
“These platforms charge excessive interest rates and additional hidden fees, adopt unacceptable and overbearing recovery methods, and misuse agreements to access data on borrowers’ mobile phones,” the central bank said.
With contributions from ANI
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